Promises Of Forever
by NeverMessWithTeddyBears
Summary: Rose sees that the tattoo on her wrist isn't a string of letters creating a name, but it's circles and circles and more circles all connected. / Soulmate AU.


**Promises Of Forever**

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><p><em><strong>A.N.:<strong> The original idea is by **perfectlyrose** on tumblr, so I can't take the credit for this. I just saw the post at 1am and my muse started working. I hope it matches up to the brilliance of the original idea._

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><p>One morning she wakes up with a slight tingling feeling on her wrist - something between a tickle and a burn - and she instantly knowd what it is.<p>

Rose takes a few deep breaths before finally plucking up the courage to actually look down at it, to see it for the first time, but she's scared.

Her mother told her it's normal to be scared of the tattoo; it represents your soulmate and that they're out there and it all makes it seem real so of course it will be a bit intimidating, but there's nothing to be afraid of, really.

So she takes one more breath and looks down at her wrist because it's now or never, and her brows furrow in confusion as Rose sees that the tattoo on her wrist isn't a string of letters creating a name, but it's circles and circles and more circles all connected and her eyes water because she's never seen something so _beautiful_ in her life. But, at the same time, she's scared because she knows that there has to be something wrong with this - something wrong with _her_ - because it's supposed to be letters; actual letters she could read, and she can't.

It feels so right, though, and that comforts her.

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><p>Her mother's words don't convey any concern, but it's her eyes that give her away. Rose notices how Jackie's smile is a bit strained and that her eyes aren't really into it, and that just makes the worry in Rose grow.<p>

"Mum..", Rose whisper carefully. "Is there something wrong with me?"

Jackie's eyes water as she comes down to her daughter's eye level. "Oh, Rose.. There is _nothing_ wrong with you, you hear me? Absolutely nothing.", she takes Rose's small hand and starts rubbing soothing circles on the back of her palm. "You are perfect."

Jackie kisses Rose's forehead and goes to pick up a few bracelets she had specifically for this occasion. Covering the tattoo is proper and expected, and Rose takes a deep breath to calm down.

Jackie puts the bracelets on Rose's wrist a bit too carefully, but Rose doesn't focus on that. Rather, she steals a glance at her mother's wrist where the name _Pete_ rests written in her father's handwriting (because this is how those things work and Rose wonders if the circles on her wrist have any special features that could be connected with her own soulmate) even though the words should have disappeared years ago, when her father died in a car crash.

Rose wonders if there's a special reason for that.

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><p>She keeps her mark hidden over the years. Not just because it's the proper thing to do, but because she's just so sick of the pitying glances people keep giving her.<p>

Mickey is the only one that doesn't seem to care that her mark isn't normal. He keeps reminding her that she'll meet her soulmate one day, and the circles will be explained and that in the meantime she should just enjoy life and not worry about what others think.

He keeps his own tattoo hidden with a bracelet that doesn't even cover the mark most of the time, and Rose thinks that maybe Mickey did that intentionally because every now and then he steals glance as the name _Martha_ written on the wrist of his dominant hand in messy handwriting (he jokes that Martha will definitely be a doctor, because the handwriting is downright awful, and Rose wonders if the circles on her wrist are drawn in bad handwriting as well, and maybe her soulmate could be a doctor, too) as if it encourages him to keep moving on day by day.

She doesn't blame him. When she's home alone, she takes off her bracelets and traces the pattern of her mark with her fingers, and she's spent so much time looking at it she can even duplicate it flawlessly. It gives her a sense of reassurance and happines, because her soulmate is out there and alive and one day, they will meet. She knows it.

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><p>The first nineteen years of her life, nothing ever happened. And then, she meets a man called the Doctor, who grabs her hand and tells her to run, and she does.<p>

She runs all across time and space, world after world after world. The adventure of a lifetime, saving civilisations and travelling in a blue box bigger on the inside and, oh, how she loves it.

And she loves him.

She fell in love slowly but surely, fell for the leather jacket and the sarcasm and the northern accent, and she loves him so much it pains her sometimes, because she still doesn't know what the circles on her wrist mean and a part of her doesn't even want to know anymore; because if it's not his name, if it's not the Doctor's, she doesn't want to know it.

She wants to forget the mark is even there, hides it with long sleeves and more bracelets and when she wants to look it she just looks at the Doctor instead and it seems to work.

But then one day, he writes something down in fast movements and when he puts the sticky note on the console, her heart stops and she loses track in the middle of what she was saying.

It's the circles. The circles she's been staring at all her life, but a bit different and she believes they spell something other than the name that is on her wrist.

"Doctor, what is that?", she asks trying to keep her voice calm.

He looks up to see her picking up the note from the console. "It's circular gallifreyan."

"Gallifreyan?", she asks, holding the paper as if it's her lifeline. "What's that? A language?", she looks up at him and sees pain in his eyes, like this is something he doesn't feel comfortable talking about, like it hurts his soul. If it was any other subject, she'd let it go, but she needs to know. She _has_ to know.

"Doctor?"

"It's the language of my people. The Time Lords from the planet Gallifrey.", he mentions, turning his attention to something else and trying to make his voice sound casual but she knows him well enough to hear the pain in his words. "It's gone now. There was a war."

For a few moments, she doesn't know what to do. She's scared. It's been all these years - nineteen years! - and now she so close to the answer and she's debating whether to show him or not, because what if it's not that language? What if it's another version, one he doesn't know? What if it's not his name? What if-

She shakes her head and composes herself. She puts the note down and walks to him, her hand lifting up her sleeve.

She hesitates for a moment longer before saying the hell with everything and removes the bracelets covering her mark, ignoring his confused look and showing her wrist to him.

The color drains from his face and his eyes widen because right there, written in circular gallifreyan is a name; his name, the name no one knows just tattooed on her wrist and she has no idea.

The Doctor doesn't know what to do. He never thought this moment would happen, and he pauses for a moment before he takes her hand and puts a small kiss on her wrist and she closes her eyes as his lips make contact with her skin. It's something so intimate - so special - and suddenly she's feeling all these emotions she never thought she'd feel and her love for him just becomed stronger and she never wants to leave his side because everything finally feels good, and she wants to cry in happiness because nothing is wrong with her - nothing was ever wrong with her - and her heart swells with so much love because she found her soulmate.

She found her _soulmate_.

One of his hands hugs her around the waist, pulling her closer to him, and he runs the fingers of his other hand through her blonde hair. He's whispering to her, so many words in so many languages - and gallifrey and he keeps murmuring into her hair starts making sense, starts translating as if even the TARDIS recognised her as a soulmate and her eyes water, so she just puts her face in the crook of his neck and they just stay like that for what seems like hours before they break away, him kissing her wrist once more, and cupping her face as he asks her where she wants to go next.

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><p>He doesn't mention the words <em>Bad Wolf<em> written on his wrist, because he still hasn't figured out what it means even though he knows it has something to do with Rose, because how could it not?

And then the game station happens and everything starts to make so much sense, because somehow she comes back and she's like a goddess with a golden glow all around her, even in her eyes, and she says she looked into the TARDIS, and that the TARDIS looked into her.

And she is the Bad Wolf.

In that moment, everything finally falls together completely, and after everything is finished he comes to her, going up to cup her face and his tattoo is out in the open and she steals a glance at it before looking back up at him and he smiles at her with all he has, tries to put all the love he has for her in his hearts into the kiss he gives her.

He needs her to know he loves her, because everything might change.

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><p>He regenerates.<p>

She doesn't know what that is so he explains to her that he's cheating death, that every single cell in his body is changing and that he won't be the same anymore.

Her hand subconsciously goes to where his name is written on her wrist as if so she can remind herself that it's still there, to reassure her that it won't go away. To give her strength to get through this and the belief that everything will be okay.

And as the gold glow disappears, she just looks at him, looks at the face that seems so familiar, the face that remind her of a New Year's when her tattoo tingled.

She looks down at her wrist and sighs in relief when she sees that the circular gallifreyan is still neatly tattooed on her skin.

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><p>He's lying in the bed at her home sleeping, and she sits by him, her fingers tracing the mark on her wrist over and over and over again.<p>

Her eyes keep glancing at his wrist and she tries to fight the urge to roll up the pajama sleeve and see if the two words are still there, because she knows that they might not be and she doesn't want to disappoint herself.

But then she gets sick of waiting, gets sick of not knowing if the Doctor is still her Doctor, so she takes a deep breath and looks at his wrist and when she sees the words there written in her handwriting she smiles and thinks that she's never been more relieved in her whole life.

It's going to be difficult at times; readjusting, learning his new body's quirks and mannerisms, but during it all their wrists will still have each other's name on them and their hearts will still be filled with love for each other, and that's all they'll need to be able to make it through.

She's ready for everything. Ready to promise him forever.

And when she whispers she needs him and he wakes up, instantly protecting her, deep in her heart she knows he's ready to promise her forever, too.

Now she can only hope that the universe will be kind enough to let them have that.


End file.
